It’s funny, because with a title like “And the Baby and Other Things” you would think that this episode would be centred on little baby Barbara and her parents, Sophie and Oleg.
What’s also funny is that I wrote that opening line before watching this episode, and hey, I was exactly right. The “Baby” in question actually has nothing do with the daughter of the most-cheered-for couple on prime time television. That being said, Sophie and Oleg were actually one of my favourite parts of an episode that continues the trend of Season 6 being heavily back-loaded with Caroline-centric plots.
After taking [what was for me] a much-needed week off we have the return of Bobby’s family, who we last saw during a visit to his childhood home. That episode was largely focused on Caroline living in the shadow of Jessica, his incredible ex-girlfriend, and that’s a name that also crops again. It all starts when Max finds Bobby’s iPhone and reads a text from her that says: “call me about baby”.
2 Broke Girls has never been great about balance. While Max was seeing Randy the A-plots always had to do with their respective relationship, with Caroline either helping her best friend or being sidelined almost completely. Here we see that the pendulum has swung in the other direction. Caroline is the one dealing with Bobby’s family, while Max and Han head off to see if Jessica, a wedding planner, is in fact pregnant with his child.
I’ve decided to include a screenshot of Kat Dennings openmouthedly overacting in every review.
Now to be fair to the show, I’m fairly certain that we are not as an audience supposed to like Bobby’s sister or, to a lesser extent, their mother. She’s loud and obnoxious and, unlike so many other minor characters who share the same traits, recurring. That said I still have no real desire to go into the exact details of what happens.
In essence Caroline, as well-meaning as she is, gets tied up in family conflict in spite of Bobby cautioning her to stay out of things. This ultimately culminates in the two of them having their first fight. While it can hardly be categorized as one due to half of the participants being aware of it, the main takeaway is them admitting that they love one another, and that as a result disagreements will inevitably arise. It’s also emphasized that Bobby is not a dirtbag, as the text was about a cat named Baby that he and Jessica have shared cat-stody of.
Really everything re: Ms. Channing, whose relationship dominates this episode, is wrapped up rather neatly. What I do want to mention, however, is the conversation the titular duo have after the opening credits. After hearing her roommate go on about how perfect her and Bobby are, Max points out that she’s “just saying you don’t know him that well yet.” This prompts Caroline to say she’s being a “Negative Nancy/Jugs McGee”, accusing accuse Max of projecting due to recently having been hurt by her and Randy’s breakup.
In the end Max’s skepticism and suspicion that Bobby might be just like every other guy come to naught, but it’s interesting that it supports Caroline’s seeming naivete. As I’ve mentioned in other reviews no romantic partner will last forever, given 2 Broke Girls‘ dynamics, so eventually he’ll be on his way out as well. Given that she’s been rewarded by her optimism it remains to be seen just how hard she’ll take it.
Or maybe her and Bobby will get married and he’ll stick around forever, who knows.
This isn’t a reaction image to the line above, it’s meant to illustrate the paragraph below.
As one last note, prior to all the other last notes that these reviews end with, “And the Baby and Other Things” has Sophie and Oleg having binged every show available to them. They take to the sidelines to watch everything going on between Caroline and Bobby’s fam, even bringing their own popcorn [“You want cheddar cheese or kettle corn?”]. It’s an enjoyable bit, particularly because it really frames the two of them as parents looking for a break from being parents. It’s also a plot that doesn’t require too much energy out of them, and their subdued performances are a joy to watch.
Current Total: $6,475.54.
New Total: $6,922.14. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Title Refers To: A cat named “Baby” and the place where Denise works, a business called “Mailboxes and Other Things”. Easily one of the worst episode titles this season.
Stray Observations:
- a man appears to die in the cold open. The diner gang loudly discusses disposing of the body, and not a single customer turns around to see what’s going on.
- we know how big a deal using the girls’ shower is from back in Season 5.
- Sophie’s reaction after Max says she’s more like “Reality Check Rita”: “Why the hell have I been calling you Max?”
- “I don’t know; everything got blurry after she touched my boobs.”
- Jessica was played by Mikaela Hoover, who was also Jackie, Dave’s too-young girlfriend on Happy Endings. Man, what a great show.
- “The party favours could be little compasses that lead you to your table!”
- Also, yes, Max and Han kiss. They gave that away in the commercial, though.
- “This really is the golden age of TV.”
- Earl recently caught up on The Walking Dead. “…it hit a little too close to home.”
Let’s be 100% real, was anyone actually watching 2 Broke Girls on CBS when the finale of The Bachelor was airing on ABC? It was impossible for me to stop from thinking about that truly momentous occasion while watching this episode, and as such I couldn’t help but notice how even the writers had their attention-
Stolen Away For A Second
How could I, or any other Bachelor enthusiast, hear that and not immediately think of Rose Buddies, a podcast hosted by Rachel and Griffin McElroy, the latter of MBMBaM fame? Its closed Facebook group currently boasts almost 11,000 members, with hundreds more joining every week. Not only that, but it’s of such high quality that many claim to only listen to the podcast, without actually watching the reality dating show from week to week.
Upon seeing Caroline and Bobby patch things up Earl somewhat bitterly notes-
“Great, two white people falling in love. You’ll never see that on TV!”
-which, yeah, is The Bachelor/Bachelorette in a nutshell.
